May 25, 2007

Dr. Pepper, split ends and a PSA

I have never been a water drinker. What I mean is that water was never my drink of choice. Before I was pregnant (or trying to get pregnant) I drank as much diet coke as I should have water. I only drank water when it was necessary (like if I neecded to swallow pills and there was no soda available) or when I had just gone for a run and needed to rehydrate (running? did I really used to run?). Pregnancy has definitely changed this for me. At my first doctor's appointment, my doctor reminded me of how much fluid I should be intaking in order to maintain healthy nutrition for my baby. I gagged at the thought of having to drink that much water in a day. As time went on, I began craving water more and more. At this point, I'm constantly thirsty and can't seek to get enough water.

The thing that isn't great is I hate the water at camp. When I was a camper at SBC, we had a skit night as the last night of every camp. For a skit one year, we "wrote" a song that went something like this: "Hi ho, hi ho, It's off to camp we go. The something I can't remember the words . . . THE WATER TASTES LIKE FISH AND SLIME . .. etc." All of that to say . . . it really does taste bad so I've spent a fortunte on bottled water.

Anyway, I'm off track. So, diet coke doesn't even sound appealing anymore. However, today was different. I haven't had many cravings during my pregnancy but right after lunch, I was craving a Dr. Pepper . . . the irony of which is Dr. Pepper is the only soft drink not available in any vending machine anywhere at Somerset Beach. I told Kyle about my craving and Cindy (my mother-in-law) was sitting there and within 30 minutes she had gone home to get me a Dr. Pepper. I told her she's my favorite mother-in-law ever.

I think one of the smartest things I've done is to continue to work until he's born. Of course, I love my job and I've had a fairly uncomplicated pregnancy so that makes it easy. But, it's really helped to pass the time. And it keeps me from sitting around too much. I only say that tonight because I had a really productive day. I still feel like there's a lot more to do for the summer, but I'm beginning to accept that some of it might not get done.

Kyle took my car to have the tires rotated this week . . . this is the good car. The car that we're not having problems with. The car whose wipers aren't possessed by the devil. The guy who rotated the tires let Kyle know that it was in need of repair . . . $1300 worth of repair. Things just keep getting better and better for us.

While Kyle and I were watching tv tonight, I had two painful contractions. So of course I assumed I was going into labor and did the most logical thing I could think of: I took a shower because I looked like crap. I haven't felt a thing since. Not even a twinge. Oh well. Maybe not tonight. But as I was drying my hair (I certainly couldn't go to the hospital with wet hair) I did realize that I have a lot of split ends and I kind of hope I have a chance to get a haircut before the big day.

TOmorrow's my due date (kind of). My doctor says it's today and the RE clinic said Sunday, so I've just kind of rounded it off to May 26. My cousin gets married tomorrow. I have another friend who gets married tomorrow too. I probably should have RSVPed that I'd be at one of the weddings because I would have been more likely to go into labor tonight if I had plans for tomorrow. THe nurse in triage on Wednesday said the best way to bring on labor is to let the laundry pile up and the house get messy. She says it never fails that the baby will come when you're not ready for him. I'm pretty sure my nesting instinct/obsession won't let me do that though.

So, lastly for tonight, there are a lot of things that people should not do/say to pregnant women that I was completely unaware of before being pregnant (the lady at the party store tonight was discussing the size of my swollen ankles with the other girl behind the counter - seriously, pregnant ladies are NOT deaf). SO, as a public service to all of you, here are a few of them:

1. Don't touch a pregnant woman's belly without being invited to. Actually, that one should be obvious, but for some people it is not. Just ask first.

2. Under no circumstances is it polite to refer to someone as "really big," "huge," "gigantic," etc. Not even a pregnant lady. YOu may think, "Well, she has an excuse for being huge . . . . she's pregnant . . . so it won't bother her to be called that." I used to think that too. BUt we're wrong. While logic tells you that you're huge because of being pregnant, it's never really a morale booster to have someone point it out to you. Same goes for calling parts of a pregnant women's body "huge." Ankles, hands, face, etc. Not allowed. Even if the pregnant lady refers to herself that way, it's not a free pass to also make those comments. Comparing a pregnant woman's entire body to Shrek, after she only said her feet look like Shrek's feet is also unacceptable (you know who you are).

3. Telling someone she's a "cute pregnant lady" is a little trite. It's not necessarily bad to say, but being called "cute" is overused and kind of makes you feel like a baby or a puppy. Finding other things to compliment her on . . . like telling her she looks so happy, or graceful, or beautiful means a lot more than "cute."

4. Don't tell a pregnant women that she looks like she "dropped." It gives her false hope. When she sees her doctor and she finds out that the baby has not dropped, it's really disappointing. Instead, ask "Do you feel like he's dropped?" Or, "What has the doctor said?" Along those same lines, don't ask stupid questions like, "Did the doctor say which day he'd be born?" I wanted to reply to that question with, "Well, when she checked the baby was turned so that we couldn't see his timer so we're still not sure how much time is left."

5. Ask, don't guess, how far along someone is. If you're 30 weeks pregnant and someone guesses that you're due in a week . . . it's a little discouraging.

I know there are more, but these are just the ones I could think of tonight. When talking to a pregnant woman, proceed with caution.